PARIS, FRANCE
Day 56
We're here!
Will write more later..don't ask why we're here..but we ARE! For 3 days only!!!! hehe
Friday, 27 April 2007
NIMES
Nimes, Southern France
Day 55 ANZAC DAY 25th April 2007
Cesar Hotel, Nimes
The train left at 8.10am from laTour de Carol so off we headed, fresh beautiful french morning, stomachs filled with french sticks, fresh orange juice and espresso.
The train was absolutely quaint! A old electric 'steam' train that was going on the scenic route to Villa de Franche. Fast flowing rivers, ruins, greenery, pastures, blossoms...so french!
Changed trains to Perpignan. We stopped us 20km out of town due to security threat. We were rounded up, and ushered to a connecting bus to the Perpignan Station. Security guards and military met us at the station...we got tickets straight out, no question of staying. And we didn't ask any questions.
Organised a ticket to Montpellier via Nice. BUT! We overran Montpellier!!!! Somehow we thought we'd be smart and catch it directly to Nimes as we saw it was on the way....BUT.....
When the conducter came around....we found out the train was an express train. Direct to PARIS. 600km's away.
What to do?
WHAT could we do?
Stay on the train.
We'd resolved we were going to PARIS...yay. And we got excited. Non tourist season. We could see the Eifel Tower without the July crowds......it might be good. We're on Eurail, we can go on any train for 24 hours so why not go...and come back the next day...yeah WHY NOT!!!!!! I was going to see the Eifel Tower............was about to message Elise to tell her we were going......yeahhhhhhhh.........my dream, to stand on top of the Eifel Tower with Elise....(on her 15th birthday..and now she's 20! hehe)
And now....i'm going to do it with Greg!!! Yes! LOOK OUT!
THEN........the train stoppped at Nimes! I ran out...looked. Why was it stopping?
Comotion.
The conductor was running down the train isle. Lady on mobile phone at the door opening, me there looking out to see whether we could get out..just in case it was for us...but nah..surely not...
"GET OFF" the conductor yelled at us!
We scooped up our luggage.....and out we went...the lady on the mobile phone flowing out as well, distracted..by her talking on the phone..."No no!" the couducter admonished her.
We were off the train!
IN NIMES!
We held up an express train to Paris!
Nimes: Spent the day at Place Des Arenas....
Sorry , will have to write more when im not on an upside down, inside out Euro keyboqrd;;;thqtùs not asdf§§!!!!!!
Day 55 ANZAC DAY 25th April 2007
Cesar Hotel, Nimes
The train left at 8.10am from laTour de Carol so off we headed, fresh beautiful french morning, stomachs filled with french sticks, fresh orange juice and espresso.
The train was absolutely quaint! A old electric 'steam' train that was going on the scenic route to Villa de Franche. Fast flowing rivers, ruins, greenery, pastures, blossoms...so french!
Changed trains to Perpignan. We stopped us 20km out of town due to security threat. We were rounded up, and ushered to a connecting bus to the Perpignan Station. Security guards and military met us at the station...we got tickets straight out, no question of staying. And we didn't ask any questions.
Organised a ticket to Montpellier via Nice. BUT! We overran Montpellier!!!! Somehow we thought we'd be smart and catch it directly to Nimes as we saw it was on the way....BUT.....
When the conducter came around....we found out the train was an express train. Direct to PARIS. 600km's away.
What to do?
WHAT could we do?
Stay on the train.
We'd resolved we were going to PARIS...yay. And we got excited. Non tourist season. We could see the Eifel Tower without the July crowds......it might be good. We're on Eurail, we can go on any train for 24 hours so why not go...and come back the next day...yeah WHY NOT!!!!!! I was going to see the Eifel Tower............was about to message Elise to tell her we were going......yeahhhhhhhh.........my dream, to stand on top of the Eifel Tower with Elise....(on her 15th birthday..and now she's 20! hehe)
And now....i'm going to do it with Greg!!! Yes! LOOK OUT!
THEN........the train stoppped at Nimes! I ran out...looked. Why was it stopping?
Comotion.
The conductor was running down the train isle. Lady on mobile phone at the door opening, me there looking out to see whether we could get out..just in case it was for us...but nah..surely not...
"GET OFF" the conductor yelled at us!
We scooped up our luggage.....and out we went...the lady on the mobile phone flowing out as well, distracted..by her talking on the phone..."No no!" the couducter admonished her.
We were off the train!
IN NIMES!
We held up an express train to Paris!
Nimes: Spent the day at Place Des Arenas....
Sorry , will have to write more when im not on an upside down, inside out Euro keyboqrd;;;thqtùs not asdf§§!!!!!!
ANDORRA and the CALDEA SPA
Andorra
Independent country on the border of Spain and France
Day 54
What a drama getting to Andorra!!!!
The french hostess at the Mirasol tried to organise a bus for us in the morning and she said it left at 9am but didn't know what time it returned.
We got to the bus stop and the Spanish bus driver said, 'Si, Andorra! Hospitalate" So off we went. But we didn't know we had to change busses at Hospitalate before we got to Andorra. Luckily the bus driver was kind! He stopped the bus, on a clifftop after talking on his mobile, and intercepted the other bus going to Andorra. He literally got out of the bus and led us over the steep cliff road and waited for another bus to come, loaded us on and said, " ciao ". We said, "Muchos Gracias!"
On our way to Andorra!
Once in Andorra we headed for the Tourist Office..and found out we had to catch another bus to Andorra le Villa which is the central part of Andorra. And once there, we found out about Peta's spa. Caldea. It's the biggest spa bath in Europe. It looked beautiful. But would it be crowded?
Walked along the man made fast flowing river, from the snow, medieval buildings...
We arrived, me in a bit of trepidation really. I didn't know what to expect, how we go about things, what exactly it was. Greg was excited. It's his thing, being pampered! Once inside, my trepidation turned to fear. I got lost in this huge complex trying to find a toilet!!! There were more than a thousand showers, no toilets. A person needs a toilet after travelling from another country! haha. Gawd...
Once i got over the feeling i just wanted out of there..and no one being able to speak English...and found what i needed, i got lead back to Greg in one of those thousand showers, went through the cleansing process we entered the spa...
AND IT WAS WONDERFUL! 3 hours of complete relaxation in the roman baths....hot sauna, spas, jets, towers of water...and bathing in warm water with beautiful music (enya) in the background, overlooking the Pyreness mountains...ohh...everything you could imagine but on a very grand scale...go to www.caldea.com to see it...
On the way home, we got checked by customs in case we were smuggling alcohol and cigarettes...i was so glad we didn't buy the bottle of whiskey we saw for 1.95!
It was so worth it....dinner was late....but it was a fulfilling, glorious day...
Independent country on the border of Spain and France
Day 54
What a drama getting to Andorra!!!!
The french hostess at the Mirasol tried to organise a bus for us in the morning and she said it left at 9am but didn't know what time it returned.
We got to the bus stop and the Spanish bus driver said, 'Si, Andorra! Hospitalate" So off we went. But we didn't know we had to change busses at Hospitalate before we got to Andorra. Luckily the bus driver was kind! He stopped the bus, on a clifftop after talking on his mobile, and intercepted the other bus going to Andorra. He literally got out of the bus and led us over the steep cliff road and waited for another bus to come, loaded us on and said, " ciao ". We said, "Muchos Gracias!"
On our way to Andorra!
Once in Andorra we headed for the Tourist Office..and found out we had to catch another bus to Andorra le Villa which is the central part of Andorra. And once there, we found out about Peta's spa. Caldea. It's the biggest spa bath in Europe. It looked beautiful. But would it be crowded?
Walked along the man made fast flowing river, from the snow, medieval buildings...
We arrived, me in a bit of trepidation really. I didn't know what to expect, how we go about things, what exactly it was. Greg was excited. It's his thing, being pampered! Once inside, my trepidation turned to fear. I got lost in this huge complex trying to find a toilet!!! There were more than a thousand showers, no toilets. A person needs a toilet after travelling from another country! haha. Gawd...
Once i got over the feeling i just wanted out of there..and no one being able to speak English...and found what i needed, i got lead back to Greg in one of those thousand showers, went through the cleansing process we entered the spa...
AND IT WAS WONDERFUL! 3 hours of complete relaxation in the roman baths....hot sauna, spas, jets, towers of water...and bathing in warm water with beautiful music (enya) in the background, overlooking the Pyreness mountains...ohh...everything you could imagine but on a very grand scale...go to www.caldea.com to see it...
On the way home, we got checked by customs in case we were smuggling alcohol and cigarettes...i was so glad we didn't buy the bottle of whiskey we saw for 1.95!
It was so worth it....dinner was late....but it was a fulfilling, glorious day...
BARCELONA - LA TOUR DE CAROL
Day 53
Mirasol
La Tour de Carol, France
We were so excited to be going to France! Off to Nice! That was our plan...
Left hostel in Barcelona early, to go to Post Office to send stuff from Spain home (mum, should get there soon, just brochures and stuff sent to us!) and caught the train to La Tour de Carol, on our way to Nice. We didn't know how far we'd get but we were on our way.
We caught two metros to get to the train and hopped on, using eurail, then the train broke down, so we changed trains and landed at THE SPOT. To find there were no trains out to Perpignan which was on our way to Nice! So....we fumbled around for an hour wondering what to do because everything here was closed! It's off tourist season. Went to the tourist office, closed. Hotel next to the station, closed.
So off we trekked, adorned with backpacks and frontpacks! We saw a sign saying there was ONE hotel open and we were already prepared to use this an an emergency fund trip where we weren't going to worry about the price..what else would we do? We had already listened to three young American girls at the station using terms like, "What a sleeper town!" We used tin pot town as our description!
Another couple looked for the camping area, which we saw on our way to the hotel. We have sleeping bags, sheets, towels and cups and cutlery...BUT NO TENT! So that wasn't an option....especially not when you can see snow capped mountains and it was a bit frosty!
We saw signs leading UP to the hotel. No kidding.....70 odd stone steps up.....geepers. We're well and truly getting fit, cos we went up, no problem!
And....ohhhhhh the Mirasol Hotel was so quaint and the backdrop was just beautiful. And cheap. 38 Euro per night. We booked dinner and breakfast too!
And what a GORGEOUS two nights stay........the leaves were just forming on the trees, blossoms, snow and ice on the hills, white snow peaks on the Pyrenees Mountains that surrounded the Mirasol, friendly French couple running the hotel...(which was also a half pensione and pub as well). Ducks wondering on the roads, friendly cats, tulips and irisis on the local garden fronts, friendly local people saying, "Bonsieur".
And even tho it was a little frosty, when sheltered the weather was equisite. How lucky were we?
The food was yummy too..salads, spaghetti bolognaise and carbonara served french style...(with elegance)...and wine that really was not as good as the spanish we'd had! Bread sticks for breakfast!
It was a two day paradise.
We enquired about going to Andorra...which is a little independent country that Peta had recommended (Greg's step sister). She told us, via her mum, Margie, it had a wonderful spa..and who were we to not take up a suggestion to have a spa. Even though I was a little cautious, thinking it might be crowded.
So on day two of being at the Mirasol we decided to go to ANDORRA!!!!
But! How to get there?
Mirasol
La Tour de Carol, France
We were so excited to be going to France! Off to Nice! That was our plan...
Left hostel in Barcelona early, to go to Post Office to send stuff from Spain home (mum, should get there soon, just brochures and stuff sent to us!) and caught the train to La Tour de Carol, on our way to Nice. We didn't know how far we'd get but we were on our way.
We caught two metros to get to the train and hopped on, using eurail, then the train broke down, so we changed trains and landed at THE SPOT. To find there were no trains out to Perpignan which was on our way to Nice! So....we fumbled around for an hour wondering what to do because everything here was closed! It's off tourist season. Went to the tourist office, closed. Hotel next to the station, closed.
So off we trekked, adorned with backpacks and frontpacks! We saw a sign saying there was ONE hotel open and we were already prepared to use this an an emergency fund trip where we weren't going to worry about the price..what else would we do? We had already listened to three young American girls at the station using terms like, "What a sleeper town!" We used tin pot town as our description!
Another couple looked for the camping area, which we saw on our way to the hotel. We have sleeping bags, sheets, towels and cups and cutlery...BUT NO TENT! So that wasn't an option....especially not when you can see snow capped mountains and it was a bit frosty!
We saw signs leading UP to the hotel. No kidding.....70 odd stone steps up.....geepers. We're well and truly getting fit, cos we went up, no problem!
And....ohhhhhh the Mirasol Hotel was so quaint and the backdrop was just beautiful. And cheap. 38 Euro per night. We booked dinner and breakfast too!
And what a GORGEOUS two nights stay........the leaves were just forming on the trees, blossoms, snow and ice on the hills, white snow peaks on the Pyrenees Mountains that surrounded the Mirasol, friendly French couple running the hotel...(which was also a half pensione and pub as well). Ducks wondering on the roads, friendly cats, tulips and irisis on the local garden fronts, friendly local people saying, "Bonsieur".
And even tho it was a little frosty, when sheltered the weather was equisite. How lucky were we?
The food was yummy too..salads, spaghetti bolognaise and carbonara served french style...(with elegance)...and wine that really was not as good as the spanish we'd had! Bread sticks for breakfast!
It was a two day paradise.
We enquired about going to Andorra...which is a little independent country that Peta had recommended (Greg's step sister). She told us, via her mum, Margie, it had a wonderful spa..and who were we to not take up a suggestion to have a spa. Even though I was a little cautious, thinking it might be crowded.
So on day two of being at the Mirasol we decided to go to ANDORRA!!!!
But! How to get there?
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